Monday, October 20, 2014
Good idiot
Ron Paul is frustrating. His goals and dreams are good. The America he wants is a good America, and some of his plans and methods would deliver a better America.
But he always relies on economic theory instead of human nature at crucial points. Nice example in today's column on the draft....
The very worst form of national service is, of course, the military draft, which forces young people to kill or be killed on government orders. The draft lowers the cost of an interventionist foreign policy because government need not compete with private employers for recruits. Anyone who refuses a draft notice runs the risk of being jailed, so government can provide lower pay and benefits to draftees than to volunteers.Three sentences. The first and last are perfectly true. The middle sentence disagrees with human nature and blows up the whole argument. In fact a draft makes neocon foreign policy HARDER, not EASIER. When a broad cross-section of men are in the Army unwillingly, they don't take a lot of crap. We pulled out of Vietnam because most Americans had a stake in the war and most Americans could see it was shit. The all-volunteer Army includes ONLY men who are naturally inclined toward military service by genes and/or culture. These men have formed a priestly caste, highly capable and efficient at military tasks and unsuited for civilian life. They will obey all orders because obeying orders is their life and passion. Very few Americans have close connections with the priestly class, so even if the soldiers were mutinous their attitude wouldn't affect the country. ¶ 5:15 AM
